Toronto man sentenced to six years for armed home invasion in Morriston

GUELPH – Former Whitcombe Way residents say their four-year-old son still asks if “the bad people” will return.

It was 16 months ago “the bad people” – three masked assailants, two with guns – broke through the doors of their Morriston home at around 1am.

(The home has since been destroyed in a fire.)

The trio demanded keys for a Mercedes-Benz SUV parked outside; one struck the home owner in the back of the head with the butt of a handgun while his wife hid with their then three-year-old child. The suspects fled as police were called, stealing the SUV.

“This incident has changed how we live our lives,” assistant Crown attorney Joshua White said, reading aloud from a victim impact statement in Guelph court on June 3.

“We are doing our best to heal, but the fear, anxiety and emotional distress remain; what was taken from us cannot simply be replaced, and the impact of this crime will stay with our family for a long time.”

Within an hour on Jan. 31, 2025, Mississauga OPP officers located the stolen SUV in a Walmart parking lot in Milton, along with Jesse Mlynarski.

Police witnessed Mlynarski toss a loaded Glock 43, an illegally-owned 9mm handgun, over a fence.

Court heard the details paraphrased by Justice Lynn Robinson from an agreed statement of facts last week during Mlynarski’s sentencing hearing.

“I have been in this system for 30 years total, and I’ve never seen an assessment quite like Mr. Mlynarski’s juxtaposed to the offences he committed,” Robinson commented.

“I would be shocked if these exact set of circumstances with a similarly placed offender ever present themselves again.”

Mlynarski, a 24-year-old Toronto resident at the time, was charged with nine offences: assault with a weapon, disguise with intent, pointing a firearm, theft of a vehicle, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, robbery using a firearm, possession of a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm, unauthorized possession of a firearm, and break and enter to commit an indictable offence.

Earlier this year, Mlynarski pleaded guilty to breaking and entering a home and robbery with a firearm.

“No amount of apologies or words can ever repair the fear of that evening,” Mlynarski, now 26, said tearfully, addressing court.

“Not to diminish what I did, but I was not there by choice; I was not the primary offender."

Defence lawyer David Hakim told the court this wasn’t a case with an inevitable conviction.

There were “triable issues to raise,” Hakim said, including whether Mlynarski was “acting under duress due to the conduct of the other two participants in the home invasion.”

“There was a path towards a potential acquittal.”

While on bail, Mlynarski said, he took part in rehabilitative programming and therapy sessions, and lined up employment.

“Your honour, I’m trying to rehabilitate myself with proper programming … and I’m fully committed to my progress,” he said.

Court heard Mlynarski has an intellectual disability, ADHD, depression and PTSD from a 2022 incident when he was shot in his hip and thigh.

A psychological assessment, Hakim said, found Mlynarski has “profound cognitive limitations which affect his reasoning, judgement, executive functioning and ability to navigate complex and emotional situations,” and that his overall intellectual function was in the “extremely low range.”

Nineteen letters of support from family, peers and mental health professionals were submitted to the court and Mlynarski wrote an apology letter to the family.

“He acknowledges and he’s very aware of the fear and that harm he caused,” the defence said.

A support network in the community, including from his family, Hakim added, “reduces future risk and it speaks to Mr. Mlynarski’s future potential.”

Lawyers submitted a joint recommendation to the judge for a six-year penitentiary sentence.

“You need to convince me that six (years) is high enough,” Robinson said.

The judge said nine years would be appropriate and weighed whether six was “unhinged from reality.”

“The Crown agrees … that Mlynarski has shown genuine remorse,” the prosecution said.

A six-year sentence balanced principles of denunciation and deterrence against rehabilitation and restraint, White argued.

Mlynarski asked the judge to use her “judicial discretion” and implored her to issue the mandatory minimum sentence of five years for robbery with a firearm.

“If I get sentenced to prison time, I’m scared I’ll go back to being conditioned to a lifestyle that is going to be very detrimental to my well-being, and I’ll be stuck in a very negative environment,” he said.

“I promise you, your honour, that you will never see me standing in front of your court again,” he added. “I will not let you down.”

The judge acknowledged Mlynarski will struggle more than others in prison and sided with arguments for a lower sentence in light of his cognitive deficits.

Mlynarski was sentenced to just under six years, accounting for time spent behind bars at the Maplehurst Correctional Complex between his arrest and when he was released on bail.

“I want it clearly understood by everybody who’s here that this is absolutely not the norm,” the judge said, later noting a sentence could range as high as 16 years.

“Home invasion is a serious and increasingly prevalent crime in our society, especially when there’s weapons involved."

The remaining charges were dropped by the Crown.

"You'll never be ready," the judge said as Mlynarski said goodbye to his mother, who had held him in her arms earlier in the hearing.

"Now is the time."